Music and celebration at the Westbourne Forum summer festival

WESTMINSTER’S Lord Mayor paid tribute to the Windrush generation who helped get Britain “back on its feet again”.

Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg paid tribute to the Caribbeans who have contributed to Westminster’s success after helping rebuild 1950s Britain after the Second World War.

Speaking on Windrush Day on Sunday, at the Westbourne Forum summer festival, he said: “So essential was the Windrush generation to our economic recovery, that in the 1950s the NHS, British Rail, and the public transport industry were recruiting almost exclusively from the Caribbean.

“Our city and our country would be in a much worse state without their work.

“But their contribution goes far beyond simply their labour. They have helped build our communities, enriched our culture, and made Westminster a better place to live.”

The mayor highlighted individual contributions like that of Jamaican-born Gwendolyn Dennis who came to Westminster aged 26 and worked in both St Thomas’ Hospital and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, and Barbadian Levi Decourcey Husbands, who moved to Maida Vale, and worked as a British Rail train guard.

The Lord Mayor Paul Dimoldenberg with Jama Elmi who enjoys the unofficial title of ‘London’s best dressed man’

That legacy continues to this day with Gwendolyn’s granddaughter and Levi’s daughter both working for Westminster Council, Cllr Dimoldenberg added.

This year’s Westbourne Forum festival was dedicated to celebrating the contribution the Windrush generation and their descendants have made not just in employment but also in culture, the arts and the wider community.

However, the mayor also made clear there was a darker aspect of that history that needed to noted: “We must acknowledge the challenges these people faced when they arrived. How much harder they had to work to overcome barriers that were placed in their way because of the prevailing atmosphere of racism, prejudice, and discrimination.

“These are issues that have never entirely gone away, and which we must keep working tirelessly to eliminate.”

He added: “We are proud to continue working towards a unity of people across spectrums, building a better, fairer, Westminster, and recognising that the Windrush generation and their legacy can help to bridge the divides in our society.”